Opening Outline of Dynamic Capabilities

February 13, 2012Posted inDynamic capabilities, Impact & Scale

Introduction to dynamic capabilities

The study of dynamic capabilities, the organization’s capacity to change its operations and adapt them to the environmental requirements, has taken centre stage in the debate on strategic management as well as organization theory (Teece, Pisano and Shuen 1997, Eisenhardt and Martin 2000, Zollo and Winter 2002, Winter 2003) in recent times.  The notion, which has received several, and only partially aligned, definitions, lies at the heart of of the organization’s ability to enact change in a systematic and fruitful way.

Winter (2003) clarifies that organizational change happens in one of two ways: the first with ad-hoc problem driven search, and the second through the action of “stable patterns of activity aimed at creating or changing operating routines in pursuit of enhanced organizational effectiveness”, the definition of dynamic capabilities in Zollo and Winter (2002).

The two points for dynamics in innovation

What is Dynamic Capabilities?

Explaining Fitness Landscapes

February 13, 2012Posted inCapabilities and Capacities, Dynamic capabilities, Fitness Landscaping Regimes, Outcomes & Expectancies2 Comments

IFD Get Fit Challenge

Firstly what are Fitness Landscapes?

In any competitive situation, the survival of the fittest dominates (Darwinian). Knowing your innovation fitness is essential in this race. The question often raised is where do I focus my limited resource to achieve a better fitness to be successful at innovation?

Mapping out your innovation capabilities to the task at hand enables you to understand and relate to what is needed. Innovation Fitness Landscapes identify the opportunity spaces on where you need to focus your efforts- the appropriate resources to navigate the terrain. The greater the ‘fitness’ transforms your landscape potential into accelerating opportunities into final tangible outcomes.

These critical factors give higher value potential or ‘peaks’ that are more valuable to your needs. The more ‘rugged’ the landscape can also determine the greater fitness for the rate of innovation. The height of the peaks in these landscapes, the greater value placed upon them, illustrates how intense the innovation challenge is, and the number of critical peaks shows how diverse it potentially is.

Act effectively amid uncertainty

February 13, 2012Posted inExploratory Walks & Needs, Fitness Landscaping Regimes, Mapping & Rugged Terrains, Natural & Unnatural tensions

IFD Uncertainty

There is a consistent need to keep looking around us; on what is going on, what has happened in the past, what is alongside us, what might be ahead and the people and resources we have available. This is taught to anyone who wants to be well equipped in any mountainous area. We need to be prepared as best we can in business and be ready to anticipate different scenarios and predictions- to be ready to be more adaptive and agile. Innovation requires that.

It is knowing this so called innovation terrain, understanding the opportunities or possibilities around us along with appreciating the time pressures, positions both internally and externally in the market that provide us much of the context of why we need to innovate in a certain way. Knowing the intensity of your innovation challenge gives you a better appreciation of what is needed to resolve these challenges- your innovation fitness.

In our understanding of the often ‘diverse’ set of challenges you have to overcome and knowing what is available to you and what you need to find to bridge any gaps becomes essential. The obtaining of insights for innovation enables you to relocate or locate the resources that are capable to be combined to traverse the landscape (or challenge) and innovate better.

All organizations talk about innovation, but so what?

February 13, 2012Posted inOutcomes & Expectancies, System Solution models, The Big Challenges

IFD Blah Blah

All organizations talk about innovation and its growing importance but few succeed in actually doing it on a repeatable scale. So what does inhibit innovation? What would drive innovation success? What aspects of innovation are critical to have so innovative growth can be achieved?

Where should a company place its emphasis to gain both an improving impact on its performance and strengthen its innovation capabilities? There are countless questions that need asking but more importantly answering.

Innovation is complex and demanding

The difficulty for many is that innovation is a complex process that has many intangibles within the total mix to manage. Management today is far happier managing the ‘harder’ aspects of business, the more established, the more traditional ones that can be managed in efficient and effective ways to reduce complexity.